Fairfax battle escalates over tenant protection rules
An ongoing conflict over new tenant protection rules in Fairfax hit a fever pitch after a five-hour faceoff between disgruntled residents and the Town Council.
After hearing dozens of speakers, the council ended the session at 2 a.m. Thursday. It decided to schedule another meeting in the form of a workshop to specifically discuss the just-cause-for-eviction law, the more controversial of the two ordinances.
Mayor Chance Cutrano and Vice Mayor Barbara Coler said they will work with staff to set the meeting, which is proposed for March.
Councilmember Bruce Ackerman said he felt that the approval of the ordinances happened “too fast.”
“From my point of view it was a pretty dense piece of legalese that I have to confess — and I have to apologize to the community and to the council for not understanding it deeply enough,” Ackerman said. “I did not understand it at that time, all the ramifications that it had, and yet I ended up voting for it anyway, and I really was torn which way to vote.”
“I wish we had more time with it and now we’ll take more time with it,” he said. “We’ll have to heal a lot of wounds in order to do that.”
The showdown was the result of a resident-submitted petition calling for a freeze on the rent control and just-cause-for-eviction ordinances. Petitioners wanted to take the issue to a public vote to determine whether the ordinances should be revoked. Fairfax is the first municipality in Marin to pass a local rent control law.
The Town Council approved the ordinances in November. Critics of the rules gathered more than 600 signatures and submitted a petition to the town. Because that petition did not meet the legal requirements, a second petition was filed Dec. 15, forcing the council discussion Wednesday night.
Claire Armitage, who gave the presentation on behalf of the petitioners, told the council that the opinions of property owners were disregarded.
“It has been a huge wake-up call to learn that our own Town Council vilifies us,” Armitage said. Armitage said the council was influenced by the Marin Democratic Socialists of America, the main group rallying speakers in support of the ordinances.
“I am here to tell you that we will not go quietly into this night. We will fight with every tool available to us, legal, social and political,” she said. “Five people under the influence of a small group of activists cannot be allowed to decide our fate without discussion or consequences or the vote of the people.”
Critics and supporters asked the council to recognize the divisiveness the issue was causing. Dozens of speakers during the meeting faced a mix of jeers and applause, prompting the council members to remind the public to remain civil.
Councilmember Stephanie Hellman said “it hurts to know that some people feel that they were carved out the conversation.”
“That was not the intent,” she said.
Hellman said there were eight public forums on the topic and that there is misinformation being discussed that can be cleared up at a workshop.
“We all have ideas for adjustments or tweaks,” she said of the ordinances. “I know I do.”
While critics voiced concerns about both ordinances, most of the distress was about restrictions in the just-cause-for eviction rules. The petitioners said the rules give the tenant more rights than the property owner.
The risks involved in renting a property discourage landlords from seeking tenants, including for dwellings such as accessory dwelling units, also known as in-law apartments, critics said.
Several property owners said they were low-income themselves and used rental income to supplement their salaries, to pay for mortgages and for retirement.
“It’s something to consider that not all landlords are rich, and not all landlords are unfair,” said Jessica Green.
“The just cause precludes my ability to age in place,” said Kelly Day-Medina, who said she’s removed her rentals from the market because of the ordinance. “My income and my future for my family is in shambles. I was once proud to own here in Fairfax. Now, I see my future in jeopardy.”
Deborah London, a downtown business owner and landlord, challenged the competence of the councilmembers, accusing them of exercising personal agendas, demonstrating a lack of respect and being fiscally irresponsible. She said the initial petition that garnered 628 signatures is the “will of the voters.”
“You are put on notice,” London said. “You work for us, the Fairfax town residents. We don’t work for you.”
Coler is the only member of the council who didn’t vote to approve the just-cause ordinance. She opposed making ADUs and junior accessory dwelling units subject to the ordinances and considers the relocation assessments and triple damages overly punitive toward landlords.
Coler said she advocated for reaching out directly to landlords to involve them in the process of writing the ordinances, but was overridden.
Curt Ries, a San Anselmo renter and leader of the Marin Democratic Socialists of America, the group that collected signatures countywide to enact rent control, defended the ordinances.
Ries said the council didn’t pass the ordinance because his group asked them too, as critics had stated.
“They passed these laws because there was an overwhelming outpouring of public support for over eight months of council meetings, and because these ordinances are desperately needed,” he said.
Hellman and Councilmember Lisel Blash noted that there were far fewer renters commenting than landlords, when in previous meetings the opposite was true. They said they believe intimidation was a factor. Hellman suggested allowing for anonymous participation in the workshop.
There is already a statewide limit on how much landlords can raise rents. The Tenant Protection Act of 2019 caps rent increases at 5%, plus the consumer price index rate. The maximum annual increase permitted under the state law is 10%.
Fairfax’s new rent control ordinance is more ambitious, limiting annual rent hikes to 60% of the increase in the regional consumer price index or 5%, whichever is greater, making it one of the tougher rent stabilization ordinances in the state. The ordinance is also retroactive to February 2022.
California’s Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act prohibits local rent control regulations on properties constructed after 1995. Detached homes and condominiums are also exempt from rent control under the law. However, the text of the new Fairfax ordinance says, “An estimated 97% of all Fairfax housing units are in structures built before 1995.”